Forgiven
by IronPhoenixAshe
Summary: Life isn't perfect, as much as we like to pretend it is. A Gajevy one-shot.


We like to escape to the world of fiction, where everything is picture perfect, where the couples lead perfect happy lives, where they support and love each other irrevocably and unconditionally. We love these world's because they are idealized and they sooth the pain and guilt we may have about our own lives, but sooner or later we must come back to our reality. Life isn't perfect, as much as we like to pretend it is…

* * *

Her cheeks were puffed out, lips set in a pout and brows drawn together in frustration.

He sat with his arms crossed defiantly across his broad chest, a scowl marring his features.

They had yet another fight.

The sun was setting on the horizon, giving the sky a reddish purple hue. A cool breeze blew through the trees, the rustling of the leaves the only sound as the couple silently fumed at each other. Their evening had started out perfectly pleasant. It had been less than a week since returning from Tenroujima and the pair had gone for a leisurely stroll around Magnolia. They had been on their way back to the guild when they decided to cut through SouthGate Park. Mistake number one.

Opening his big fat mouth was mistake number two.

Gajeel finally let out an exhausted sigh, the scowl set on his face melting into a more sombre expression. He lifted a gloved hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose just above the piercings and roughly rubbed the skin in frustration.

"…fuck," He cursed under his breath. "Look Lev, I'm sorry alright? I ain't good with the whole feelings thing."

Levy looked over her shoulder at him, no longer pouting when she saw how utterly defeated the man looked. Slowly she turned and took a few steps closer to the iron dragon slayer.

"Do you really think I'm still bothered by all that, especially after all the times you saved my life?" She asked as she sat next to him on the wooden bench. Gajeel grimaced at her words and turned his face away from the script mage, letting his arm fall to rest on his thigh.

"No… maybe. I don't know." He finally said, his glare still boring holes into the tree across from him. He hated that fucking tree, almost as much as he hated himself. "I just don't get it, Shrimp. How can ya just forget everything I did, to you… yer friends… the guild? I'm not a good person Levy."

Levy smiled softly at the raven haired man next to her. She had never seen the dragon slayer look so vulnerable before, it was a nice change from his usual tough exterior.

"I never said I forgot Gajeel. I still remember everything as clear as the day it happened," She could feel Gajeel tense at her side. "But it's in the past. I forgave you a long time ago."

He snapped his head back to look at the blue haired mage, his wide crimson eyes meeting her endless brown ones.

"How can ya say that so easily!?" He said a little louder and more aggressively than he had meant to, but Levy didn't flinch. She just looked back at him with the same calm expression. Once again his gaze fell to his feet, his hands balled into fists. After a moment of silence he spoke again, his voice much lower than before. "I don't deserve you…"

He felt Levy stand and heard the crunch of the gravel beneath her feet as she walked away. Just as Gajeel had started to think she might have finally begun to agree with him and walked away from him for good, he felt two tiny hands on either side of his face force him to look upward. He stared incredulously up at the woman standing before him, tiny yet strong in so many ways. The look on her face was nearly indecipherable, just like her.

"Gajeel, you deserve me. You deserve me, because I say you do." Levy said, her voice unwavering as she spoke. Her determined eyes darted back and forth as she continued to look down at him, eagerly searching for his response. A small, breathless laugh escaped Gajeels lips.

"Yer incredible you know that?" He finally said. Levy never ceased to amaze him with her intelligence, her strength, her seemingly never ending capacity for forgiveness.

"So I've been told." Levy responded with a small chuckle of her own. Gajeel loved the way her face lit up when she smiled. He had made a silent vow to himself that so long as he was alive and breathing, nothing would take that light away again. A vow he nearly broke on Tenrou, his carelessness had nearly gotten his Shrimp killed and it was eating away at him. He realized that day he cared for her more than just his guildmate, he loved Levy.

Gajeel loved a lot of things about Levy, like that wrinkle she got when she was trying to decipher an ancient language or how cute she looked with her hair all tousled from a sleepless night or how irresistibly adorable she was when she was flustered. Just then Levy realized she still had her hands on Gajeel's face and hurriedly began to pull away, muttering a soft apology. A smirk tugged at Gajeel's lips seeing the tinge of red spreading across her cheeks, before she could pull away he grabbed her wrist and brought her closer. Clumsily Levy stumbled forward, landing right in the iron dragon slayer's lap. She let out a surprised gasp as one strong arm wrapped protectively around her waist and the other gently cupped her face, a calloused thumb tenderly stroking her cheek. Which was no doubt burning a deep red by now.

"I mean it Lev, ya are truly incredible." Gajeel murmured, his face mere inches from hers. She looked down at him, her deep brown eyes wide and his crimson eyes burning with an intensity that made a shiver run down her spine. "Just say no. Say no and I'll leave."

Levy said nothing, she just grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him upward those last few inches until their lips collided and it was everything she had hoped for. When and how she fallen so incredible hard for this man she did not know, just that some where along the line she had. She had tried during the S-Class exams to tell the hard headed man her feelings but he was just too dense for subtlety. A soft moan escaped her lips when Gajeel pulled her closer against him and he used the chance to deepen the kiss. After a few moments they finally pulled apart, breathing laboured and eyes half lidded.

"You aren't getting away that easy, Redfox." Levy said confidently as she leaned down for another quick, chaste kiss. Gajeel grinned into the kiss.

"Gihi! Wouldn't have it any other way, Shrimp." He chuckled, letting his forehead rest against hers.

Maybe, just maybe, he could be a man worthy of her love after all.

* * *

Okay, that ended up being a little more intense than I originally intended! I am beginning to think I can't write anything but really short one-shots OTL

So, I have the idea that Levy and Gajeel never really talked about what had happened during the Phantom Lord arc and that they just tried to let the past be the past and work toward a better future, but eventually Gajeel off-handedly mentions the past and what a shitty person he is and Levy just flips out at him. I set this just after Tenrou because I imagine Gajeel would realize then that he actually cares for Levy more than a guildmate and I figured he would be feeling pretty shitty about almost letting his partner die.

Anyway I would like to dedicate this to a MasterChick because she is my constant inspiration and I really should have been working on the art I told her I was going to do, but instead I wrote this because I was having some personal feelings of my own I needed to work out.

So yeah, go check her out she has some awesome fics!

You can also find this on my tumblr at ironphoenixashe . tumblr com / post / 99198128873 / forgiven


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